1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to air bags for vehicles and, more particularly, to an air bag for a door of a vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is known to construct doors for vehicles such as automotive vehicles. Typically, the door includes an inner and outer panel joined to each other and pivotally connected to vehicle structure in a well known manner. The vehicle door also includes a decorative door trim panel mounted to the inner panel.
It is also known that the vehicles may collide with obstacles during operation. As a result, automotive vehicles have provided various structures to lessen the effects of a collision type impact on an occupant compartment of the vehicle. For example, some automotive vehicles may include an air bag to lessen the effects of a collision type impact. While air bags provide an advantage in lessening the effects from a collision type impact, they suffer from the disadvantage that it is extremely difficult to deploy the air bag in sufficient time when installed in a vehicle door. Also, they suffer from the disadvantage that the air bag is generally disposed behind the door trim panel which may have a relatively large mass that would interact with the occupant compartment when the air bag is inflated.